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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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This report is the second deliverable of a series of reports set forth by the Department of Energy (DOE), led by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), for the research award, “Accelerating Commercial Maritime Demonstration Projects for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies.” This report highlights the technical, regulatory, and economic feasibility of nuclear-maritime configurations.
Long-baseline atom interferometers such as the Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100) require stringent control and continuous characterization of background magnetic fields and spatial gradients to prevent systemic phase shifts that mimic ultralight dark matter or gravitational wave signatures. Because direct sensor placement within the ultra-high vacuum beam pipe is infeasible, in-situ magnetic field monitoring relies on external sensor arrays situated in the surrounding annular region. This work demonstrates a field reconstruction framework for a 5.3-meter MAGIS-100 modular section using finite-element Opera simulations. Transverse magnetic fields are expanded using a cylindrical multipole framework as informed by Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment, with magnetometer array configurations optimized via Fisher information matrix D-optimality. Inverting external sensor readings through a Gauss-Newton scheme recovers interior tube fields across distinct axial positions. In the discontinuity-averse uniform region (slice pair P4), the model achieves sub-noise-floor performance with a cross-validated root-mean-square error (RMSE) of $6.7227 \times 10^{-4}\text{ A/m}$ ($0.845\times$ sensor noise floor) and an interior field coefficient of variation of $1.71\%$. An elbow criterion in the Fisher bounds establishes $n_{\text{max}} = 2$ as the optimal multipole truncation order to prevent noise amplification from over-parameterization, with $n_{\text{max}} = 3$ (sextupole) order chosen for analysis to demonstrate further complexity and cross-pair comparison. Furthermore, analytical differentiation of the fitted multipole coefficients yields dense spatial maps of the transverse Jacobian gradient matrix $\nabla \mathbf{H}$ along with propagated $1\sigma$ uncertainty bounds across the beam region ($r \le 2.75\text{ in}$). This operational framework confirms that external magnetometer arrays can reliably monitor magnetic field uniformity and spatial gradients along the 100-meter flight path given appropriate sampling for any complexity order.
Long-baseline atom interferometers such as the Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100) require stringent control and continuous characterization of background magnetic fields and spatial gradients to prevent systemic phase shifts that mimic ultralight dark matter or gravitational wave signatures. Because direct sensor placement within the ultra-high vacuum beam pipe is infeasible, in-situ magnetic field monitoring relies on external sensor arrays situated in the surrounding annular region. This work demonstrates a field reconstruction framework for a 5.3-meter MAGIS-100 modular section using finite-element Opera simulations. Transverse magnetic fields are expanded using a cylindrical multipole framework as informed by Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment, with magnetometer array configurations optimized via Fisher information matrix D-optimality. Inverting external sensor readings through a Gauss-Newton scheme recovers interior tube fields across distinct axial positions. In the discontinuity-averse uniform region (slice pair P4), the model achieves sub-noise-floor performance with a cross-validated root-mean-square error (RMSE) of $6.7227 \times 10^{-4}\text{ A/m}$ ($0.845\times$ sensor noise floor) and an interior field coefficient of variation of $1.71\%$. An elbow criterion in the Fisher bounds establishes $n_{\text{max}} = 2$ as the optimal multipole truncation order to prevent noise amplification from over-parameterization, with $n_{\text{max}} = 3$ (sextupole) order chosen for analysis to demonstrate further complexity and cross-pair comparison. Furthermore, analytical differentiation of the fitted multipole coefficients yields dense spatial maps of the transverse Jacobian gradient matrix $\nabla \mathbf{H}$ along with propagated $1\sigma$ uncertainty bounds across the beam region ($r \le 2.75\text{ in}$). This operational framework confirms that external magnetometer arrays can reliably monitor magnetic field uniformity and spatial gradients along the 100-meter flight path given appropriate sampling for any complexity order.
Solar flat plate collector (SFPC) is regarded as one of the best renewable energy devices to acquire hot water for domestic usage. Though its theoretical efficiency is projected at higher scale, its conversion efficiency is observed to be low due to various collector losses. Hence, to achieve improved performance of collector different techniques for heat transfer augmentation in circular pipes can be adopted. Among passive and active techniques available, passive is preferred over active due to economics and saving in exergy. Hence, in the present study absorber tube configuration is modified with internal grooves in the collector setup to enhance the rate of heat transfer. Also, fluids dispersed with metal oxide particles provide an increase in thermal conductivity such that ZnO-based aqueous EG mixture nanofluid is used as working medium to analyze the performance of collector setup. Also, the change in heat transfer rate and temperature profile of grooved tubes under forced laminar conditions for different working fluids are compared and reported.
Configuration–interaction perturbation theory (CI–PT) is applied to calculations of low-energy states of Pu II. This ion is quite challenging due to a large number of possible determinants arising from seven valence electrons and strong relativistic effects. The CI–PT calculations agree with experiments for the energies and g-factors for many low-energy states that allowed positive identification of the theoretical levels. Isotope shifts were also used to aid in identification, and, in case of the odd states, fitting with three independent parameters was used to match theoretical isotope shifts to the experimental values with good accuracy. The CI–PT approach tested here on the Pu II ion can be generally used to calculate properties of many complex atoms, including U I that can find application in fundamental and applied science.
Low-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell systems can achieve higher efficiency than diesel engines, but heat rejection remains a major challenge in class-8 heavy-duty fuel cell trucks. For the same rated power, the radiator heat load is greater than that in a diesel engine, while the allowable operating temperatures are lower. This work proposes and evaluates 400 kWe fuel cell–battery hybrid (FCH) platforms and operating strategies that manage heat rejection without enlarging the radiator frontal area. Three FCH platforms are identified, each varying in fuel cell system (FCS) rated power, battery energy storage system (ESS) capacity, and maximum stack coolant exit temperature (T h1 ). All three satisfy key system and vehicle requirements, including 175 kWe FCS power at top sustained speed, 400 kWe FCH power on a 6% grade climb, a target stack power density (PD) of 750 mW e /cm 2 , and heat rejection constraints. The first FCH has the smallest FCS, the largest ESS, and a T h1 of 90 °C. The second achieves the highest PD of 840 mW e /cm 2 at a T h1 of 95 °C. The third has the largest FCS, the smallest ESS, and a T h1 of 102 °C. At a Th1 of 115 °C, the platform can be configured as a stand-alone 400 kWe(net) FCS without hybridization, but the achievable PD drops to 460 mW e /cm 2 .
We have conducted comprehensive exergy analyses of three integrated gasification combined cycle with carbon capture and storage (IGCC-CCS) power plant configurations: (1) a baseline model using Selexol™ for H 2 S/CO 2 removal; (2) a modified version that adds a H 2 -selective membrane before the Selexol™ acid gas removal system; and (3) a modified baseline version that uses a CO 2 -selective membrane before the Selexol™ acid gas removal system. While holding the coal input flow rate and the CO 2 captured flow rates constant, it was determined that the H 2 -selective membrane case had a higher net power output (584 MW) compared to the baseline (564 MW) and compared to the CO 2 -selective membrane case (550 MW). Interestingly, the CO 2 -selective membrane case destroyed the least amount of exergy within the power plant (967 MW), compared with the Baseline case (999 MW) and the H 2 -membrane case (972 MW). The main problem with the CO 2 -selective membrane case was the large amount of H 2 (48 MW worth of H 2 chemical exergy) remaining within the supercritical CO 2 that exits the power plant. Finally, regardless of the CO 2 capture process used, the majority of the exergy destruction occurred in the gasifier (305 MW) and gas turbine (~380 MW) subsystems, suggesting that these two areas should be key areas of focus of future improvements.
Turbulence and transport phenomena play a crucial role in the confinement and stability of tokamak plasmas. Turbulent fluctuations in certain physical quantities, such as density or temperature fluctuations, can have a wide range of spatial scales, and understanding their correlation length is important for predicting and controlling the behavior of the plasma. The correlation length in the radial direction is identified as the critical length in real space. The dynamics in real space are of significant interest because transport in configuration space is primarily focused on them. When investigating transport caused by the E×B drift, the correlation length in real space represents the size of E×B whirls. It was numerically discovered that in drift wave turbulence, this length is inversely proportional to the normalized mode number of the fastest growing mode relative to the drift frequency. Considerable time was required before a proper analytical derivation of this condition was accomplished. Therefore, a connection has been established between phenomena occurring in real space and those occurring in k-space. Although accompanied by a turbulent spectrum in k-space with a substantial width, transport in real space is uniquely determined by the correlation length, allowing for accurate transport calculations through the dynamics of a single mode. Naturally, the dynamics are subject to nonlinear effects, with resonance broadening in frequency being the most significant nonlinear effect. Thus, mode number space is once again involved. Resonance broadening leads to the detuning of waves from particles, permitting a fluid treatment. It should be emphasized that the consideration here involves the total electric field, including the induction part, which becomes particularly important at higher beta plasmas.
Recently, a new theory for the transport of energetic particles across a mean magnetic field was presented. Compared to other nonlinear theories the new approach has the advantage that it provides a full time-dependent description of the transport. Furthermore, a diffusion approximation is no longer part of that theory. The purpose of this paper is to combine this new approach with a time-dependent model for parallel transport and different turbulence configurations in order to explore the parameter regimes for which we get ballistic transport, compound subdiffusion, and normal Markovian diffusion.
Ground level enhancements (GLEs) are extreme solar energetic particle (SEP) events that are of particular importance in space weather. In solar cycle 24, two GLEs were recorded on 2012 May 17 (GLE 71) and 2017 September 10 (GLE 72), respectively, using a range of advanced modern instruments. Here we conduct a comparative analysis of the two events by focusing on the effects of large-scale magnetic field configuration near active regions on particle acceleration and release. Although the active regions are both located near the western limb, temporal variations of SEP intensities and energy spectra measured in situ display different behaviors at early stages. By combining a potential field model, we find the coronal mass ejection (CME) in GLE 71 originated below the streamer belt, while in GLE 72 it originated near the edge of the streamer belt. We reconstruct the CME shock fronts with an ellipsoid model based on nearly simultaneous coronagraph images from multiple viewpoints and further derive the 3D shock geometry at the GLE onset. The highest-energy particles are primarily accelerated in the shock–streamer interaction regions, i.e., likely at the nose of the shock in GLE 71 and the eastern flank in GLE 72, due to quasi-perpendicular shock geometry and confinement of closed fields. Subsequently, they are released to the field lines connecting to near-Earth spacecraft when the shocks move through the streamer cusp region. This suggests that magnetic structures in the corona, especially shock–streamer interactions, may have played an important role in the acceleration and release of the highest-energy particles in the two events.
Developing an improved understanding of transient mixing and combustion processes inherent in diesel injection is an important element in the design of advanced engines. This paper provides a detailed analysis of these processes using an idealized benchmark configuration designed to facilitate precise comparisons between different models and numerical methods. The computational domain is similar to the Engine Combustion Network (www.sandia.gov/ECN) Spray-A injector with n-dodecane as the fuel. Quantified idealizations are made in the treatment of boundary conditions to eliminate ambiguities and unknowns associated with the actual injector(s) used in the experiment. These ambiguities hinder comparisons aimed at understanding the accuracy of different models and the coupled effects of potential numerical errors. Prior to understanding the impact of injector imperfections on their performance, it is first necessary to understand how models perform in a well-controlled environment with well-defined boundary conditions. Here, we focus on the latter while accurately matching the operating conditions used in the experiments. Relevant high-pressure phenomena are treated with real-fluid thermodynamics and transport for multicomponent mixtures. A highly resolved calculation is performed to study both scalar-mixing and initiation of combustion. Results are assembled into a database that can facilitate one-to-one comparisons between codes. The combined set of results is analyzed to provide physical insights related to localized broadband transient mixing and combustion processes that are typically not available from experiments.
In this note, using the colour string model, we study the configuration space distribution of stopped nucleons in heavy-ion collisions. We find that the stopped nucleons from the target and the projectile end up separated from each other by the distance increasing with the collision energy. In consequence, for the center of mass energies larger than 6 or 10 GeV (depending on the details of the model) it appears that the system created is not in thermal and chemical equilibrium, and the net baryon density reached is likely not much higher than that already present in the colliding nuclei.
Source data for manuscript "Frustrated Electron Hopping from the Orbital Configuration in a Two-Dimensional Lattice".
Numerical modeling of divertor configurations with radially or vertically extended, tightly baffled, outer divertor legs has demonstrated the existence of a passively-stable fully detached divertor regime. In the simulations, long-legged divertors provide up to an order-of- magnitude increase in peak power handling capability compared to conventional divertors. The key physics for attaining the passively stable, fully detached regime in these simulations involves the interplay of strong convective plasma transport to the divertor leg outer sidewall, confinement of neutral gas in the divertor volume, geometric effects including a secondary X-point, and atomic radiation. New analysis shows that in this regime the detachment front location is set by the balance between the power entering the divertor leg and the losses to the walls of the divertor channel. Correspondingly, the maximum power that can be accommodated by the divertor, while still staying detached, increases with the poloidal length of the leg. The detached regime access window in terms of input power, density and impurity seeding concentration varies quantitatively depending on divertor geometry and modeling assumptions most specifically, cross-field transport to the side walls.
In the past year, a prototype fast-neutron coded-aperture imager has been developed that has sufficient efficiency and resolution to make the counting of warheads for possible future treaty confirmation scenarios via their fission-neutron emissions practical. The imager is constructed from custom-built pixelated liquid scintillator detectors. The liquid scintillator detectors enable neutron-gamma discrimination via pulse shape, and the pixelated construction enables a sufficient number of pixels for imaging in a compact detector with a manageable number of channels of readout electronics. The imager has been used to image neutron sources at ORNL, special nuclear material (SNM) sources at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) facility, and neutron source and shielding configurations at Sandia National Laboratories. This paper reports on the design and construction of the imager, characterization measurements with neutron sources at ORNL, and measurements with SNM at the INL ZPPR facility.
This paper describes an optimization of the detector configuration, based on the Shannon-Nyquist theory, for two major x-ray diagnostic systems on tokamaks and stellarators: x-ray imaging crystal spectrometers and x-ray pinhole cameras. Typically, the spectral data recorded with pixilated detectors are oversampled, meaning that the same spectral information could be obtained using fewer pixels. Using experimental data from Alcator C-Mod, we quantify the degree of oversampling and propose alternate uses for the redundant pixels for additional diagnostic applications.
This paper describes an optimization of the detector configuration, based on the Shannon-Nyquist theory, for two major x-ray diagnostic systems on tokamaks and stellarators: x-ray imaging crystal spectrometers and x-ray pinhole cameras. Typically, the spectral data recorded with pixilated detectors are oversampled, meaning that the same spectral information could be obtained using fewer pixels. Using experimental data from Alcator C-Mod, we quantify the degree of oversampling and propose alternate uses for the redundant pixels for additional diagnostic applications.
In the past year, a prototype fast-neutron coded-aperture imager has been developed that has sufficient efficiency and resolution to make the counting of warheads for possible future treaty confirmation scenarios via their fission-neutron emissions practical. The imager is constructed from custom-built pixelated liquid scintillator detectors. The liquid scintillator detectors enable neutron-gamma discrimination via pulse shape, and the pixelated construction enables a sufficient number of pixels for imaging in a compact detector with a manageable number of channels of readout electronics. The imager has been used to image neutron sources at ORNL, special nuclear material (SNM) sources at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) facility, and neutron source and shielding configurations at Sandia National Laboratories. This paper reports on the design and construction of the imager, characterization measurements with neutron sources at ORNL, and measurements with SNM at the INL ZPPR facility.